Biology of Trees, from Cell to Globe

This textbook presents the tree lifeform in its structural and functional differentiation as a starting point for exploring the mechanistic grounds of understanding why forest ecosystems are crucial in controlling resource fluxes (i.e. of carbon, water, nutrient elements) at a global scale. Based on the current state of knowledge, the book's structure pursues a spatiotemporal scaling approach in linking the ecologically relevant features of cells, tissues and organs with the capacity of whole trees to act as integral constituents of forest stands and ecosystems, shaping the planetary biogeochemistry. Trees are discerned as terrestrial carbon stores, commodity providers, and determinants of global energy and matter fluxes, with capacity to abate global warming and air pollution, and to ameliorate urban living conditions. The ecophysiological perspective ranges from evolutionary and phylogenetic traits to the socioeconomic value of trees, with reference to land-use change, highlighting the risks of anthropogenic stress and global forest destruction. The significance of trees and forests is conveyed in view of the pressing ecological concerns of the 21st century. This tour d’horizon of the biology and biospheric impact of trees benefits everyone, but especially students and researchers, concerned with plant and forest science, land use and environmental sustainability, and landscape and global change ecology.